Timber-framing machine.



' No. 848,225. PATENTED MAR. 26, 1907.

JKDOULL.

- TIMBER FRAMING MACHINE,

APPLICATION FILED JAN.10, 1906.

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K b b- PATENTEDMAB. 26, 190'].

I. DOULL.

TIMBER FRAMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JANJO, 1906.-

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- Inventor:- b v ,Q

Attest;

J. DO ULL. TIMBER FRAMING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10, 1906.

fig a SHEETS-SHEET a.

PATENTED MAR. 26. 1907.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 26, 1907.

Application filed January 10, 1906. Serial No- 295,348.

To all 20/1/0712, it Duty concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES DoULL, a citizen of the United States,residing in Butte city, in the county of Silverbow, in the State ofMontana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in'llimber-Framing Machines, of which the following is a specifica tion,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to machines for framing or cutting tenons on theends of timbers, particularly such timbers, either round or squared, asare commonly used in timbering mines. Such timbers are handled in largequantities, and economy in the preparation thereof is important.Moreover, it is highly desirable that the tenons at opposite ends of atimber shall be alined.

Various machines have been used or designed for doing the workexpeditiously and satisfactorily, and in the present case it has beensought, while adhering generally to aknown type of machine, to make themachine more automatic in its character, so that less handling of thetimbers shall be necessary and so that the work of the machine shall beaccomplished more quickly than heretofore. Thus in the present machinemechanical devices are employed for effecting all of the movements ofthe timbers while in the machine, the mechanism is so arranged andcombined as to effect the complete framing of a timber in a singletraverse of the timber through the machine to and fro, and the characterof the chucks by which the timber is held during the operation upon itis improved. Various other features of improvement will appear as thisdescription proceeds.

The machine which has been chosen for illustration herein of thecharacter of the invention is specially adapted, in the formation of itschucks,for the handling of previouslysquared timbers, but it will beobvious that chucks for handling round timbers might equally well beemployed in the machine and that the various devices shown are capableof use either jointly or separately in machines of other types than theparticular one illustrated.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine which embodies theimprovements, parts being broken away, and various details which are notnecessary to a complete understanding of the invention being omitted.Fig. 2 is a view of the machine in side elevation. Fig. 3 is a view ofthe machine in front elevation. Fig. 4 is a detail view, on a largerscale, of the chuck. Fig. 5 is a view in l section on the planeindicated by the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

The timber to be framed is brought to position in front of the machineby rolls or other suitable means,from which it is transferred directlyto the chucks which hold it during the operations upon it. In themachine illustrated in the drawings the chucks, of which there are two,are formed with particular reference to the handling of timber which hasbeen squared previously. Each chuck is adapted to have a one-quarterrota tion and comprises a semicircular holder a, having a rectangularseat a to receive the timber, provided near its periphery, on each side,with a curved rib a and on its periphery with a segmental rack a Hingedto the holder at at one end thereof, as at b, is a clamping-jaw b, whichat its opposite end is provided with a spring dog or catch 6 adapted ito engage a toothed recess a in theother end of the holder a, the dog orcatch 1) being provlided with a spring I) and an operating-han d e Theclamping-j aw is preferably semicir cular in form and is providedcentrally with a radial clamping-screw if", having a looselymounted headI) and an operating-handle If. The clamping-jaws I) being thrown back,the timber is rolled upon the holders a, and the clamping-jaws are thenthrown forward, the dog 6 engaging the toothed recess a The screw-clampis then turned forward to hold. the timber firmly in position. The chuckor holder at is mounted to rotate in a chuck frame 0, the cheel -pi ecesof which are grooved internally, as at c, to en age the curved ribs a ofthe chuck or holder, so that the chuck is capable of rotation about thecenter of the segmental gear a while it is held from rolling motion. Thesegmental gear a is engaged by a straight sliding rack (Z, which. ismounted to slide in the frame 0 and is connected to the rod (1 of apiston (Z adapted to be moved in a cylinder (Z supplied, preferably,with air under pressure from any suitable source and controlled byvalves, not necessary to be shown herein. The cylinder (Z rack (Z, andframe 0 are mounted-upon a carriage e, supported at one side of themachine in suitable ways f and at the other side of the machine incorresponding ways f. Each carriage e is provided with a rack e, engagedby a cor- IIO responding pinion e on a shaft e ter also carries a pinione, which is engaged by a rack g, connected to the rod g of a piston g ina cylinder 9 The latter is supplied, preferably, with air under pressurefrom any suitable source by which it can be controlled.

At each end of the machine is placed a framing-head h, comprising upperand lower vertical saws It and 77,2, and upper and lower horizontal,saws h and h. These saws are driven by suitable means, and as theconstruction of such framing-heads is substantially the same asheretofore further description thereof herein is unnecessary.

In order that timbers of different lengths can be handled in themachine, it is necessary that one of the framing-heads and the adjacentchuck, with its associated parts, be movable toward and from thecorresponding parts at the other end of the machine. Accordingly theframing-head h at the left hand end of the machine, as shown in Figs. 1and 3, and the corresponding ways f are mounted so as to be movabletogether upon the bed-plate of the machine, and a screw i, provided witha hand-wheel 'L at one end of the machine and mounted in suitablebearings, engages the ways f and through its rotation causes the ways fand corresponding head and associated parts to be'moved toward or fromthe other head, according to the length of the timber to be cut. Theshaft 6 is grooved longitudinally, as at 6 to engage a key in theleft-hand pinion 0 so as to permit the necessary lateral movement, whileproviding for the rotation of the pinion in whatever position thecarriage may then be placed.

In the operation of the machine the timber to be framed is secured inthe chucks, as already described. The air or other fluid under pressureis then turned on in the cylinder thereby throwing the piston forwardand hrough the rack g, pinion e shaft 0 pinions c and racks e movingwhich the chucks are mounted forward and carrying the timber through thesaws in. the forward direction. As soon as this movement is completedthe air is turned on in the cylinder C5 and the pistons therein beingthrown forward, together with the racks d, the chucks are rotatedthrough a one-quarter turn. Air is now admitted to the cylinder g on theopposite face of the piston therein, and the timber is thereby movedagain toward the front of the machine, and as it passes through theframing-heads the fram ing of the ends is completed. As the movement ofthe carriage ceases air is admitted to the cylinder 61 in front of thepistons, and thereby the chucks are rotated backward a one-quarter turn,placing them in position for the release and discharge of the timberjust framed and for the reception of another l to engage The lattimber,

and is provided with valves l the carriages on i The framing of eachtimbergis therefore completed in a single traverse of the ti1nherthrough the machine to and fro, and all of the operations, including theturning of the timber and except the mere placing and securing of thetimber in the chucks, are performed by mechanisms which act rapidly andpowerfully. The productiveness of the machine is therefore greatlyincreased as compared with other machines now in use, and at the sametime the expense of maintenance and operation is greatly reduced, as allof the operations of the machine can be placed under the control of oneman through suitable location of the controllingwalves.

I claim as my invention 1. In a timber-framing machine, the combinationof a framing-head, a timber-supporting carriage, a guideway fixed withrelation to the framing head and upon which said carriage is free totravel, a rack on the under side of said carriage, a shaft mounted onsaid guideway and having a gear to engage said rack and another gear, astationary power-cylinder, a rack actuated by the piston of saidcylinder and engaging the lastnamed gear on the shaft, a timber-chuckmounted rotatably on said carriage and pro vided with a rack, apower-cylinder mounted on said carriage and a rack actuated by thepiston of said power-cylinder and engaging the rack on the timber-chuck.

2. In a timber-framing machine, the combination of two framing-headsadapted to act simultaneously upon the ends of a timber,timber-supporting carriages, guideways fixed with relation to said headsand upon which said carriages are free to travel, racks on the undersides of said carriages, a shaft mounted on said guideways and havinggears to engage said racks and a third gear, one of the iirst-namedgears being slidable on the shaft, a stationary power-cylinder, a rackactuated by the piston of said cylinder and engaging the third gear onthe shaft, timber-chucks mounted rotatably on said carriages andprovided with racks, power-cylinders mounted on said carriages, racksactuated by the pis tons of said power-cylinders and engaging the rackson the timber-chucks, one of said guideways with the correspondingcarriagechuck and framing-head being movable toward and from the other,and means to shift said guideway, with its associated parts, toward andfrom the other guideway and its associated parts.

In a timber-framing machine, the combination of a fraininghead, aguideway, a carriage mounted on said guideway, means to reciprocate saidcarriage, and a timber chuck mounted rotatably on said carriage, saidchuck comprising a segmental holder having a seat for the timber, aclamping-j aw hinged to the holder at one end and adapted the holder atthe other end, and a radial clamping-screw carried centrally by saidjaw.

4. In a timberi'Tan1ing machine, the c om bination of a framing-head, aguideway, a

5 carriage mounted on said guideway, means to reciprocate said carriage,a chuck-frame mounted on the carriage, a rack sliding in said frame, asegmental holder mounted rotatably in said frame and having a gear en-1o gaged by said rack, a clamping-jaw hinged to JAMES DOULL.

1 In presence of H. C. HOPKINS, i L. O. RITER.

